Fuel price hike: DMK softens stand

Key ally of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the Centre, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has decided to softpedal the hike in fuel prices, after raising a big noise over it. In fact, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, had even written letters to the Prime Minister seeking a rollback of the hike.

But with Dr Manmohan Singh sticking to the decision and Congress president Sonia Gandhi lending support to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget proposal at a meeting of the party MPs in the Capital on Thursday, the DMK had no option than to accept the inevitable.

As a result of changes in customs and excise duties, petrol price increased by Rs 2.71 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.55 a litre.

The DMK on Thursday said that its alliance with the Congress was like “two bulls” of a bullock cart, suggesting thereby the softening of its stand on the government’s decision to hike prices of petrol and diesel. “Two bulls taking the bullock cart in the right direction,” DMK Leader in Rajya Sabha T. Siva said, referring to his party’s alliance with the Congress.

Siva was speaking in support of the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. In fact, Siva praised the UPA government for developments taking place in the country and said, “The U.S. is scared of developments taking place in India.” He said the pessimism of the Opposition on India’s growth story was out of place.

After lodging its protest on the hikes, the DMK chief had said there was no question of rocking the UPA boat. Political observers feel the DMK has no option than to keep the company of the Congress till the Tamil Nadu assembly elections. The DMK is not oblivious to the risks in pushing the Congress to the wall.

Talk of recent Congress overtures to the rival AIADMK has only fueled the concerns in the DMK camp. Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu, have time and again pointed to the unfairness of the alliance as the DMK has refused to share power with Congress in the State. But that has not stopped it from demanding and getting plum portfolios at the Centre.

In Chennai, Kanimozhi, daughter of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, also spoke in a similar vein. “There will be different points of view in a coalition government but it doesn’t mean that the alliance has to break. We work together in so many other issues and we have so many common beliefs which keep us together. I think that is more important,” she said. “Sorry to say what many people hoped for will not happen,” she said on reports that there was unease in the alliance.

Same is the case with another UPA ally, the Trinamool Congress of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. With her eyes set on West Bengal, she too would like to be on the right side of the Congress to get the benefits of power to woo the electorate in her state. The Trinamool Congress also made it clear that there was no threat to the Government. “We don’t want to get into any quarrel. In a democracy different political parties have their own position and our party has also articulated its view,” she said.

While the Trinamool has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha, DMK has 18 in the 543-member House. The UPA’s strength with the outside support of the BSP and the SP is 323.

- Asian Tribune -